Youngsters from Burlington Danes Academy will be able to live like professional footballers for a week thanks to a groundbreaking initiative between the council's School Sports Partnership (SSP) and Queens Park Rangers Football Club.

The Inspire Football project has been set up to help twenty-four 15 and 16 year-old boys from the School who struggle in punctuality and attention to learning in English, Maths and Science.

The scheme, which was launched by the SSP, sees coaches from QPR train the youngsters between 7-8am three days a week over a ten-week period. In return, the pupils receive a free healthy breakfast before attending their 9am lessons.

Weekly targets are set for the teenagers and if they are met they receive free tickets to QPR home games. Once the ten week period is up, they will even be able to spend a week living like footballers if their punctuality and attention to learning has improved significantly.

This will see them given specialist training sessions from QPR at the Westway Sports Centre, a tour of the stadium and a chance to meet QPR players face-to-face. They will also play a game against a QPR junior team and will be taken out onto the pitch at half-time during the R's match against Charlton Athletic at Loftus Road on Saturday 19th April.

Cllr Antony Lillis, Cabinet Member for Community and Children's Services, told 'Hoops': "This is an excellent way of helping these young people through the power of sport.

"I am sure that all of the pupils will enjoy their time spent with the coaches and players and hope that their experiences will lead to them improving their school attendance and
attention to learning.

"I would like to thank the School Sports Partnership for setting up this innovative scheme and QPR for giving up their time to help the community."

Click here for further details